Sword art online, a new age
by flaming hunter
Summary: A new age has begun and with it anew heroes


My dearest prince I write to you this letter for no other reason than I believe you deserve to know the truth. By now I am certain that you as well as your father have been told about the mysterious mountain kingdom and of the giant tree where those with wings live.

I write you this, so that you may know of the power you will bring down upon yourself, as well as your people should your arrogance blind you.

It had been upon the seventh day when the sun did not rise, that they first came, men - woman and children who ran desperately trying to escape some unknown horror, that struck from all sides.

They stank like ruin and decay, a smell brought about by the overexposure to dead bodies.

Truthfully no one really cared, for in these times such acts were but a common thing, so the usual was done, scouts were sent and the defense force gathered should they fail to return.

They never did, when the fact that the men would never return set in, the city's defenses were fortified and many men, along with their sons were called to pick up a sword.

It was on the eight-day that the enemy struck, how they managed to breach the walls unnoticed I will never know, how long had they been inside the city before the first scream was heard, in truth, I pray I never find out. The fighting lasted for seven days, the fact that the sun had not once shown itself, forced us to rely heavily on fires light by oil and what few torches we had.

Prayers were sent out, but if a god had heard them they must not have cared.

Finally, when all hope seemed lost, the world shook and for the first time in weeks the light of the sun was seen, its wonderful light shined upon a massive mountain that did not exist before, at the side of the mountain was a massive tree.

For whatever reason the remaining people of the city ran towards the mountain, hoping it might protect them, perhaps it was desperation or a mixture of insanity and hopelessness, but at the end, it proved to be the right decision. Within moments knights dressed in an assortment of colors and carrying banners I have never seen before emerged from the mountain and met the enemy in battle.

It was as if the darkness was in fact as bright as an area light by the suns light, from the great tree came small men wearing the most finely crafted armors I have ever laid eyes upon, with them were people who had wings the kind one would find on a butterfly or a bird.

The knights fought the creatures bellow alongside the small men, while those with wings fought in the air, the sound of their wings was like hearing the wind blow.

Yet for all of this it was not enough and the knights alongside the small men were being forced back by sheer numbers alone. This changed when the sound of thunder reached my ears, warriors holding a kind of musket I have never seen before struck down the enemy from afar.

The tide of the battle changed when the sound of whistling was heard followed by numerous explosions that tore into the enemy and left nothing from where they stood.

Still, this ensured only a stalemate, one that was broken by the sounds of thousands of wings moving alongside millions of stamping beasts. Alongside them, giants made of steel forced back the enemy's more troublesome servants, before standing in place sorounding both the mountain and the tree, as well as the surrounding area between them.

A woman claims that a beast killed a Goblin that had stolen her infant child, before returning the infant to her, both the woman and one of the few knights we have claimed that that very same beast, ignited into flames and charged at a group of Orks that were charging straight at them.

It never made it, as a Dragon fell from the sky breathing fire on the surrounding area before several Griffins tore it apart, during the days of all of the fighting, several of the people had been taken in by the newcomers, their injuries treated and those that were missing clothing or simply half-starved were given what they needed.

Of course, this meant, that everyone had to make themselves useful, so those that could work the land did so and those that could fight would be sent back to the frontlines.

By the time the enemy had been pushed back to a large cave, a month had passed, however, the fighting did not end at that moment. From what eye whiteness say the men turned looked at each other shook each other's hands and charged into that cursed cave, six-months passed and from time to time a person or a large group of people would emerge from that cursed place, telling stories of a hellish wars that was ongoing inside the various tunnels the caves had.

I like many had been placed to work in what I knew, so I took record of everything, as things stand a wall now so rounds the mountain and the greater tree, while a stone road leading from the mountain to our original city connects the two together.

So we arrive at the end, my prince. I write to you this as a warning for you and your father for as the sun finally shines upon all of the lands once again, the knight-the small men-the warriors- the winged people and their beast have returned victorious.

For a long moment, that seemed to last hours no one said anything. The sheer absurdity of what the letter implied no confirmed was far more troublesome than many truly cared to or wanted to admit.

The frontier lands had rebelled against the empire.

Truthfully everyone had expected this to occur far earlier, for the lands of the frontier was not for the faint of heart. It is a land where few have ever wondered into and if one wanted to say it was the very edge of Human civilization they would have been right.

Giants and Trolls walk those lands calling it home, the place is said to be so dangerous that on one occasion a single mushroom whipped out a settlement. Somehow the mushroom's spores made it impossible to resist, so the settlers ate it and were in turn eaten from the inside out, by a fungus that grew out of their stomachs and mutated them into abominations.

By the time a scout team arrived to see why no one had attempted to communicate with another settlement, they found the entire settlement turned into a strange combination of living flesh and mushrooms.

The green skins walk in those savage lands, perhaps it where they come from their savage and brutal nature ensures that they not only survive but thrive there. They are a plague that arrives in one area, eats- kills- rapes everything and when nothing is left, they simply move on.

Yet in all of this, one glimmer of civilization survived and grew, it was a small thing, hardly called a city by anyone that had ever laid eyes on a real city. Yet for what it lacked in size, it made up in the sheer stubbornness of its people.

Raids by Goblins maid the city watch listen to every sound made in the dark, not a single crack of an intentionally loose piece of wood escaped their ears.

Yet this letter said, that they had been unable to hear when the enemy entered the city. For that matter, every man and boy was a soldier by nature, not because of any military history, but rather necessity.

Living on the frontier made them experience far more hardship than they otherwise would have, so it wasn't uncommon for a boy of six to out menubar a full grown man that had never been trained and yet from what the letter said, the city had nearly been whipped out.

For however long the moment had lasted the king finally spoke.

"Send in an infiltration team to find out about these newcomers." He spoke as if he was carefully choosing his words.

No one acted even after he had stopped speaking, they none the less listened to the next set of words/orders.

The king looked at the ceiling as if asking for guidance or simply hoping he was making the right decision and he spoke.

"It seemed that our dungeons are getting crowded, see to them being emptied out, but don't kill the prisoners." He spoke not really giving an order as to what to do to the men and woman, but the intention was no less understood.

They were the frontiers problem now.

Finally, before dismissing everyone, the king called to his best merchant and master of coin, taxes needed to be collected and if not... well they could be made up, so with a slight move of his wrist the king dismissed everyone present.

Finally, when he was completely alone, the king smiled. He wouldn't pursue the frontier, they were but a buffer and if they somehow managed to pay the taxes his men made up, they would have to get used to living with the worst the empire had to offer.

There was a reason why the green skins stayed behind the city in the frontier, it was a simple yet effective one, demons lurked in every corner and if one wasn't careful they would be dragged away never to be seen again.

The very stones that were normally smooth became so sharp they might have as well been knives and all of this was before one reached the five-day edge that separated the lands beyond the frontier and the frontier itself.

Yet if they somehow managed to cross thru those lands and whatever creatures they encounter, they would still have to deal with the various savages and beasts that live on this side of the frontier.

The king smiled, he knew those people were no threat to him, but that didn't mean he would make life easy for them. After all, if he let them go without any form of retaliation he would be seen as weak and that opened up his kingdom for an invasion.

So he chose the slow and steady root, he would drown them in the worst humanity had to offer.

Sadly this all meant that his scouts, would not be coming back. It took an entire mounted army to cross with ought problems and the scouts would have none of that.

He had no doubt they could reach their destination, but the simple fact of getting there and reaching the city or mountain alone would make the men lose any will of returning, so their reports would have to be magical means or by a crow.

[Speech change Kirito ]

It all seemed like one big dream.

When Aincrad and Yggdrasil landed in this strange world, everyone capable of fighting had done so without hesitation.

Truthfully no one had any real reason to do so, most people simply wanted to continue with what they knew or better said what they wanted to believe.

That this was still just a game, it wasn't until the Gun Gale Online players showed up and began to reinforce the defenses, while adding the much-needed support fire that the illusion they had, had begun to break.

The enemy used a combination of shadow magic- the natural darkness the world seemed to be stuck in and a strange combination of pheromones with special armor that made them nearly invisible and almost completely impossible to hear and smell.

The thing was, that in order to be able to bring down their heavy artillery and make use of their more flamboyant machinery the Gun gale players were forced to make their mechs walk down the flying castle. This caused a combination of wild animal stampedes - a sudden cult that worships a deity that supposedly commands the iron guardians, as people now call the mechs and a mutual hatred between the native animals of both Aincrad and the surrounding wildlife.

The mechs used their metallic bodies to shine what little sunlight there was into the areas covered in darkness, alongside their normal headlights. This took away a lot of the enemies advantage, allowing us to kill most of them, the fairies used their magic to diapers the pheromones and make the enemy completely visible.

So with their advantage gone, the enemy's morale quickly diminished allowing us to push them back to where they had come from. However, where most people would have called it a day and sealed off the entrance, someone suggested that doing just that allowed future problems to spring up.

Something like the enemy slowly rebuilding their numbers and slowly raid the town and villages, until they were strong enough to get their revenge. Maybe that person hadn't been so detailed, but none the less we all chose to deal with the problem before it came back to bite us.

We found a lot of enslaved Humans, so we did what most people would do we freed them and killed every Goblin- Ogre and Orc we ran into until there was nothing left to kill.

Still, none of us expected the sight that awaited us when we returned to the flying castle, it seemed that a year and a half with ought the sun coming out, makes for a terrible growing season. So the various farms and settlements had begun to run out of food and had sent envoys hoping to trade what little they had for it.

Not only that but the survivors and some of the people we had previously rescued had gone off to search for anybody that might remain of their people. Needless to say, the end result was a massive gathering of hungry and frightened people outside of the loosely built walls the mechs had made by putting giant holders next to each other and whatever gaps were left, were filled in by the people and painted white.

What a sight we must have been, all covered in dirt and blood, as we made our way towards the gates before being slowed in.

Hell, the guard nearly wet himself when he saw us.

I didn't even make it past the front door when I was thrown to the ground with a warm pair of arms holding tightly onto me, Asuna had flown down from the area she had been working in and met me at the entrance, according to her she had seen us long before we had even reached the gates.

That night a huge party was held in celebration of our victory and whatever for could be spared was given out to the hungry masses.

That night Asuna told me everything, not just hungry- injured or frightened people had come, more than one assassination attempt had been stopped, not all of the assassins were human.

Then there was the issue of both the flying castle and the world tree, while both did have a considerable size, they both had to feed an animal population, provide clean drinking water, grow crops support whatever strange creatures were native to them all the while feeding and providing for both the players and the None Playable Characters.

They couldn't support the growing number of people.

Right now, a type of waterway was being built in order to gather rainwater from both the world tree and the flying castle. The plan was to let the water spill into the empty lands and let it collect until a river or a stream was formed eventually, grass would grow or at the very least, animals would gather to drink.

Still, as things stood the people outside couldn't stay, we could barely support those that would stay and live in the nearby city.

As for the people in the city, they were both a peculiar case and an all too common one.

They had used their chance and secured both a trade agreement and a mutual protection treaty, under the pretext of the fact that we are both close to each other.

The players had agreed to it, under the assumption that the people knew about the surrounding lands, the types of monsters and where the settlements were.

That couldn't have been further from the case, because of the resent year of darkness and the monster attack, no one knew where anyone was or what kind of monsters were now roaming the regions. In fact, the only thing they did know what where good lands to farm were located.

The only thing that had come out of that assumption was the help of a drastically weakened group of allies.

So that leads us to this moment, several of the lower and mid-level guilds would begin to spread out and scan the area, our job was to look for places where animal tamers could herd their animals/ monsters and where farmers could grow their crops as well as set up some new towns. So some of the burdens could be lifted of both the world tree and the flying castle.

Even now as I breathe in this cold mountain air, I can't help but remember the warmth of Asuna and knowing both her and Yui are waiting for me to come back. (exhale ) It all felt like a dream.

[Sword Art Online. Age of Discovery. ]

The sun was high now, they had been walking for several hours and the fact that they were forced to stop and repeatedly rest so that the women that either had infants or were pregnant could continue to move, wasn't helping them make any significant distance.

They were headed towards one of the areas that once served as a location for a farming village or better said to a would-be village.

There was nothing there except for some loose dirt, that had been previously seeded and remnants of loosely built tents. Its people were gone now, no one knew what happened to them.

She felt the creature in her womb move and for a moment she was tempted to fall on top of it so that the creature wouldn't be inside her anymore.

Yet as she looked around and saw the tiny green and tan faces of the half-born, she could see them looking at the world around them curious about it all. Those innocent eyes, that would one day grow to be filled with a deranged hatred for everything that wasn't like them.

She hated them, she hated them all. She hated them for living when so many of their true children died. She hated their fathers, who forced the creatures onto them.

Yet overall, she hated the fact that try as she might, she couldn't hate them. They weren't responsible for what had happened, or how they were brought into the world.

So as she followed the men of Fuurinkazan, she couldn't help but unwillingly rub her belly and feel the creature inside her move with her touch.

One of those men would become her new bedmate, he would have several dozen more women as the days passed, so if she wanted to be safe, she had to act quickly. Less another woman realize which one of them was both the strongest and the most capable.

Again they stopped and she discovered, that she had been so caught up in her thoughts, that she didn't realize the sun had begun to set.

The men began to set up places to start the fires for the night and the few animals they had with them, instinctively knew that they weren't going to walk anymore. So they simply laid down and began to do whatever it is that animals do before they go to sleep.

She looked around and noticed something peculiar and she realized she had been too slow.

Several women both young and older had separated themselves and sleepy at the feet or at the side of a single man. Be they the animal herders or the would-be farmers, a smaller group of women had gone and laid next to where a man had laid out his area for the night.

It seemed, she wasn't the only one thinking about what was to come next and all of the other women, had already chosen who would be fathering the next generation.

The Knights, however, didn't set up any sleeping areas. No they along with a few other men had decided to sit around the fires and keep each for the night.

Already several young women were laying behind a specific man, careful not to cross into the shadow of any other, lest they are mistaken for one of his.

Tomorrow they would arrive at their new home and begin to rebuild their lives.

Right now as she looked around and saw who was who, she chose the man that had the short spiky hair and laid down for the night. This was the frontier, there is no place for second thoughts, you made a choice and you lived with it.

Things happen and you move on, for dwelling in the past only means you can't see what's in front of you and thinking about the future was meaningless. For obvious reasons.

She felt the ground beneath her begging to shake and move, perhaps it was an attack or it was nothing more than the animals pulling the wagons filled with good. She felt her self slowly begin to fully waken and realize the gravity of the situation only for a moment of weightlessness to take over.

Even before her body hit the ground, she took a seating position and noticed that everyone was completely awake, their eyes were wide as the world around them was moving. No, the world wasn't moving, the land itself was.

She knew what was going on, yet she desperately tried to deny it. There were stories about the Rock Giants, but she had always thought of them as nothing more than myths, they were said to lie dormant for years until the day they woke up and walked away searching for another place to sleep.

Entire villages were said to be crushed underneath their feet and 3ntire towns were said to have been plucked when where they were carried away never to be seen again.

The growling sounds the rock giant made as it walked made her very soul tremble, it wasn't a cruel sound, but the sheer raw power the rock giant had was resonating with her very being.

Suddenly she heard something that was impossible, yet it happened none the less. "Hey, where are we going?" Sled one of the knights.

As she looked closer, she saw that it was her chosen mate. He stood at what seemed like an edge, she slowly realized that they were all on the giants back.

Too hot. The land was cool when it was the night. Need sleep cools place need to sleep./strong" The rock giant said, its voice was like gravel as it spoke.

"Alright, then you do your thing, big guy." The man said as he turned to the rest of the knights.

She couldn't 've lived what she was seeing, he was smiling. Not only that, he was walking with such ease, that it seemed that the very giant's powers didn't even affect him.

She felt her eyes widen as the realization came to her. How had this man spoken to the giant in the first place, she was frozen in place unable to move, after her moment of weightlessness, but him and the men with him, it seemed as if this kind of powers was a common thing.

"Looks like its getting too hot for him. It was our bad luck with setting up camp on the big guy's back, so looks like we're going along for the ride." He said, his smile never leaving his face.

"Sure why not. If things go bad well just use the teleporting crystals to get everyone to a safe place." One one the more plump members spoke.

"Its one hell of a view isn't it. " another knight spoke, as he looked at the land the rock giant left behind.

"... Captain, we're not going back, are we? This is our life now isn't it?" Another knight spoke.

A moment of silence seemed to linger, but somehow, the questions asked didn't seem to be referring to the current events, now happening.

Her new partner simply smiled and sat next to the man, placing his hand over the man's shoulder and giving him half a hug.

"Yeah, so let's make the best of our new lives." Her chosen said to the man, his voice was low and kind.

[Speech change Asuna]

Asuna felt her head hurt, her days were now consisting of paperwork and more paperwork, Yui was out playing with the other children and her friends were out drinking celebrating the resent negotiations.

They had secured a workforce from the neighboring city to help ease any renovation of the surrounding lands. In paper it all seemed nice and, but in practice...that was another story.

Construction and innovation is the mark of a prospering society and a simple trick to keep the people happy is to give them a certain level of luxury and wealth. Already there was talk amongst the people, about carving some of the mountains in the forms of giant statues, dedicated to either a god or a great hero.

The gathering of several tribes and creating an even greater military, some people already wanted to expand. But that was the thing, these things took time and money as well as effort plus food and more.

Then there were the issues everyone failed to notice until they happened, the waterways or pipelines as people call them were proof of this.

The condemnation of magic and technology allowed for a giant chunk of the construction to be completed in record time. The problem was, both the people and the monsters discovered there was an abundant supply of clean water flowing thru them and so they started punching holes in the pipes.

Originally the pipes were supposed to only be apart of the castle, but the world trees people said they would help, so the pipes could be seen even going thru there.

One would think they it wouldn't have been a lot of water that would flow they but would be wrong. Ice areas dropped entire chunks of ice and snow that melted, rainwater and more was collected and it all was let to fall off the edge, so the people outside could get their fill.

Ungortuanally entire areas were now in danger of being flooded and water stations had to be built in order to prevent that, but that only made the problem even worse, as more and more people were gathering around the water stations and filling baskets with gold as tributes to something.

In the desert areas, monsters were now traveling to the water stations sometimes making a walk that should have taken months in hours. The desert areas had limited water, so their reaction was s anticipated, but to have armies of creatures gathering was ridiculous.

Then there was the issue with security because the pipelines, had been squealed to go all the way up to the ninety-nine floor, they still needed to be completed. But the amount of water being let out was already causing problems, monsters from the outside were beginning to gather in the area where the water was flowing.

Now of them had gotten anywhere close enough to pose any real danger, but only time would tell. The scouts were labeling and marking down any monster they saw and what preyed on them, any new plant found was plucked and taken to the research group to see if it was useful or a threat to people health.

The thing was the further the water went, the further the scouts had to go and already reports were starting to come in. Strange shadows that move at night, hidden away from peoples eyes, it was only thru sheer skill that the scouts had either avoided the creatures or killed them.

Entire villages had been found, but no people, human or otherwise. Thieves and people that just liked to cause harm were all over the broken city, so a lot of the guilds had their hands full.

Asuna wished someone figure out how to make aspirin and give her one.

[Speech change]

"Nine hundred pounds of flour and three thousand pounds of rice. Yes, everything seems in order." I said as I handed the merchant back his daily report.

The city was growing and repairing at the same time, to do both was all too arrogant, yes. But the people needed a way to cope with things, one simply does not forget what has happened to them. No, they simply chose to move on and what better way, then yo keep ones self-occupied.

However, the repairing of the city and the expansion of it had not one but several meanings. The people needed a reason to stay, other than the mountain and the greater tree.

Those two things were reason to stay, but they were occurrences that happened in the frontier and as such could not be expected to be there tomorrow.

An attack such as the one that had occurred was reason enough for people to leave and risk the exposure of the untamed lands of the frontier, it was a perfectly reasonable response after all. But the expansion would make it seem as if the city and its people met the threat head on and had come out stronger because of it.

The repairing and strengthening of old buildings made this delusion much more believable to the people if they saw how much better their lively hoods would be if they chose to stay.

Still, the city could no longer live in the security of being hidden by the mountains, too many monsters and people know of its location and to think that word would not reach, the less than friendly one's was was an act of stupidity.

Which is why the defenses needed to be strengthened, the walls fortified, the military to grow, the animal herders to grow good herd, the farmers to grow a good harvest and for our borders to grow.

There are three ways an empire exists control, money, and food.

Food to keep the people going, money because no one works for free, this goes for all levels in society and control to keep things running smoothly.

Things such as healthcare, education and so on, one simply has to look at the less than civilized areas of the world to realize that such things are luxuries.

As a scribe, I have studied both the kingdoms of the west, the empires of the north, the matriarch of the south and the demon strongholds of the east.

So I have learned that there are several factors to be held, in ruling a nation. A figurehead, so everyone has someone to look up to and blame when things go bad.

A symbol for the people to fall into, to put it simply the last name is a family symbol that keeps all members of that house together or helps people know your apart of that family. The same manner of thought goes to a flag or an emblem.

The last is fear, this is perhaps the most important one. For fear makes the people know you do not kill or attack your rulers. That way your king or senator can meet with the people face to face and even hug and shake hands.

It is fear, that makes other kingdoms, empires and whatnot understand that they do not anger us, unless they risk appeasing us or dying by us.

The frontier has thought me two new rules. Never expect anything, for there will only be disappointment when it doesn't happen and be thankful for any good thing that happens because there might be no tomorrow.

So why was all of this important, who knows really one thing important today, can and will be meaningless tomorrow. None the less, to understand his current position is to somehow, understand the feeling of having your heart race, while your head spines, all the while having to read an overly specific document, all the while being forced to have water forced in thru your nose.

To be near one of the people that live in the greater mountain and the great tree, is to know that you are looking at a dragon in human form. All the power is there and the presence is unmistakable, but the size and form is that if a child, a man or a woman.

My job is more diplomatic at the moment, so I have to be the string that connects what is left of the city's ruling families to the people of the great mountain and great tree.

Quite frankly I would prefer to be sent to his death, for whenever one of those people release just a tiny fraction of their power, its suffocating and the feeling is almost maddening. Up until now, he had managed simply by his sheer force of will, but now-now I don't know what to think.

Back then everything that they did was amazing, how they helped the people and drove the darkness back, but only now I realize that they are just as human as us.

Even as I look at the daughter of the Lady of the Blood Knights joyfully playing with the other children, I can't help but wonder if its us that are wrong about them.

They look human, but they have the power to command the metal giants and force dragons into obedience out of sheer force of will. Yet when the people were hurt they healed them, but any act of anger and the people of the mountain could almost kill with a simple look.

It is almost as if their nature contradicts itself. Still, he had spent to much time looking at children playing it was time to get back to work.

To live in such an interesting age is both a curse and a blessing. A mountain whose entrance is covered in shadows, the same kind that one would see when they walk at the middle of the night. The surrounding buildings are bent out of shape, there are shadows that would seem unnatural, plus the areas that seem dark in someplace, wherein others they are bright.

It's strange to see that such an entrance gives way to a land where there are open fields and children play openly. For such a place to exist here in the frontier, I find myself wondering if it's just a dream. The people in the Town of Beginnings are an overly friendly bunch, yet they hold a level of suspicion for the people outside that isn't undeserved.

More than one woman and men were raped when the people tried to help those from the outside. The woman wanted to use the infants in their wombs to have a way of staying in the mountain, but the men saw a health untouched woman and saw that they were ideal for being mothers and childcarers.

Still, the open fields had proven themselves ideal for the growing of crops and it had been them that had signed the contract to provide food for the people in the city. A monopoly we cannot allow to be taken from us. No that's not right, the castle and the great tree have provided their own source of food to the people that came from afar and as such, they received their own share of beggars.

However, the city provided the only undisturbed lines of food for the people, at least that was the illusion that was being put up and for that reason, trade had to continue. The ruling families were prepared to pay in jewels, gold and those beneath them, but the illusion had to be maintained to help the people believe that a level of security still existed.

Each act right now was to maintain that illusion and eventually make it a reality. So there was no room to look weak in any direction if the people looked and saw a lack of food, then they would simply point at that not a single person living in the city had gone with ought eating.

Even if their only meal was once a day.

The broken walls were being slowly rebuilt and the defending military was slowly recuperating. The illusion had to be maintained, lest the city be abandoned and lost to the winds of time.

The documents he held in his hands would ensure such a thing.

Lady Asuna, also known as Asuna the Flash, a beauty that was nearly impossible to reach, only her husband Kirito the Black SwordsMan was capable of conquering such a woman.

A thin figure, light skin that almost seemed pail and light brown hair, that seems to glitter when the light touches it.

Likely for him, he found her just as she was leaving one of the many buildings in the Town of Beginnings, the moment she made eye contact with him she simply stretched out her hand and took the documents from him.

The level of speed she read thru the documents was impressive, either that or she just looked at each piece of paper and moved on.

"Everything looks good, but there is one thing I don't understand. What does it mean when new ruling family is sent into the frontier?" Asuna asked him.

"Certainly man. Whenever a kingdom is conquered it's easier to simply send when dethroned family to the frontier. No one ever manages to return from here. The same goes for prisoners and so on."

"Nearly every kingdom that once existed or will exist in the frontier comes from a disposed of ruling family. They are the only ones that even try to create kingdoms here, most people learn that having large settlements is like having a giant target painted on them." He answered her.

"So you want to create good relations with them, so when they do make their kingdoms, they don't try to conquer you." Asuna said.

"Its a simple matter of lessening future threats." He answered her.

"Well agree on providing grain and meat for the next year, but we won't provide with any deals you make. So don't point those people in our direction, just to make yourselves look good." Asuna said before taking a deep breath.

"If you make any deals that somehow involve us, we will remove any help to your city and any talk of trade will be forgotten." She said as she took out the page that dealt with any future arrivals and signed every other document.

She handed the papers back to him and walked away, there was no reason for her to be with him anymore

A piece of the contract had been lost, but now they knew where the people of the mountain drew the line, good they now knew where not to press at the moment.

He quickly made his way back to his home city and wished he could spend the rest of the day simply gazing at the endless fields of green grass. Still, he had work to do and couldn't spend his day simply doing nothing.

The moment he passed the dark entrance to the mountain, he was met with the intense heat of the frontiers sun. Merchants and health care givers walked back and forth from their tents as several savages drank their day away. Whores and smiths worked side by side and neither one liked the idea of having the other near them.

The Smiths hated the fact that troublemakers would do everything where they could hear and see everything, plus the fact that the risk of people being hurt was all to real.

The Whores hated having the smiths nearby because more and more girls would gather around an apprentice or a master and simply start acting that they were his. The problem was the fact that there weren't that many smiths.

He passed the greater metal guardians and walked passed the refuges, towards his city. He left behind the greater white wall and saw the broken gray wall of his city, it was time to deal with the ruling families.


End file.
